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Sleep Awake PC Critic Reviews
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65
Metascore Mixed or Average
positive
4 (57%)
mixed
2 (29%)
negative
1 (14%)
Showing 7 Critic Reviews
Dec 2, 2025
SLEEP AWAKE is a game I saw in my email, having never heard of it. I redeemed the key on a whim, and dear lord, am I happy that I did. The four hours I spent in The Crawl as Katja were full of intrigue, some genuine scares, and a hell of a lot of enjoyment.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 2, 2025
Admittedly, the game is definitely not for the faint-hearted, who don't like being as powerless as Katja is at the beginning, but if you like exquisite dystopian horror atmosphere, then this is one of the best games in the genre since Alien Isolation, in my opinion. In any case, I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 2, 2025
My favorite thing about Sleep Awake is how it plays with its form as a video game to portray a conflict that isn’t a bad guy or a monster. You can’t just hit “falling asleep will kill you” with a pipe and move on to the next slobbering, gory metaphor for crimes you’ve committed, or zombie, or whatever. This is an internal fight for most of the story, and one that has no visible end. You and Katja start the game fully prepared to just kick the can down the road as long as possible, until the runway’s out and there’s nothing else you can do. That’s no way to live, but at the same time, what can you do in that scenario but live? The death cults are silly, but at the same time, ruminations on how humanity’s self-perceived resilience could work against it. That’s where Sleep Awake really hits. When the monsters do show up it stumbles, and feels more like a normal video game the longer it wades into the Whys and Hows. Not bad for a five-hour rollercoaster.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 2, 2025
Cliché as it may sound, Sleep Awake is not meant for everybody. EYES OUT's deliberate obscure approach to this psychedelic walking sim was meant to draw in the curious and open-minded crowd, treating those who dare to stay awake to mindboggling lore and hallucinogenic FMV sequences. Just make sure to pay attention to the details, since skipping on that might leave you with more questions than answers.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 2, 2025
SLEEP AWAKE is an experience that doesn’t allow itself enough time to become the piece of art it desperately wants to be. It features all the elements of a beautifully intense and unique audio and visual experience, and has a decent story it’s trying to tell, but feels diluted overall by its short runtime. It almost feels like a game that was playing it a bit too safe, even in its experimental style, and it would have benefited from heavier auditory exploration and more content to properly develop its intriguing narrative.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 2, 2025
Sleep Awake is a moody and inventive psychological horror game that experiments with storytelling and visual style. While it offers a unique blend of mixed media aesthetics and surreal atmosphere, its gameplay lacks depth and its narrative pacing often stumbles. As Katja navigates a fractured reality where sleep means death, the game’s haunting tone and inventive moments keep players intrigued, even as structure and interaction falter.
FULL REVIEW
PC
Dec 3, 2025
The death screen is a rare moment when Sleep Awake summons something between dream logic and the strange hazy moments between sleep states that can feel like dreaming. The rest of the time, this narcoleptic nightmare merely wears its psychedelic aesthetics – floating Numan included – without interrogating them interactively. It’s too straightforward, too legible, and not actually illogical enough where it matters. You may want to sleep on this one.
FULL REVIEW
PC
